"I'm already ahead of them" - Felix Gall thinks Thymen Arensman and Jai Hindley are racing each-other in Giro podium battle

Felix Gall finds himself neither here nor there in the Giro d'Italia general classification battle - at least that's how the Decathlon CMA CGM rider has hinted he sees it. The Austrian sits in second place, a massive 4:03 behind leader Jonas Vingegaard and with a 57 seconds cushion keeping him on the podium.

And it's the battle for podium where Gall finds himself slightly drawn into. He's 24 seconds clear of Thymen Arensman in third, with the Dutchman looking over his shoulder at Jai Hindley 33 seconds further in fourth. The Netcompany Ineos and Red Bull - BORA Hansgrohe riders are fancied to attack each-other on Friday's brutal stage 19.

Gall thinks the stage will come down to fatigue with a brutal finish to Alleghe featuring a 5 kilometer climb at gradients just under 10 percent. Gall has been consistently clear of the rest of the field in chase of Vingegaard in almost every mountain stage of the corsa rosa, and hopes to have the same legs come Friday afternoon.

"The finish is not super long, but it's a very steep climb," Gall said in a pre-stage interview. "With the fatigue that we're going to accumulate throughout the day, I think we're gonna see quite some gaps."

"I hope I have the same legs as I have the last two and a half weeks. I'm feeling good and it's a day where we have to be focused all day long. We've seen in the past that the GC has been shaken up in the last days of the Giro."

Asked what way he and other leaders will ride, the Austrian believes that it's not tactics but the stage's sheer difficulty that will define the day's placings.

He added: "I think we are going to be rather defensive. The parcours is so hard, I think it's going to take care of itself. It's going to sort itself out basically."

When it comes to Arensman and Hindley, Gall believes that they are looking at each-other when it comes to the standings and believes he enjoys the bonus of being ahead of the pair in the podium race.

He highlighted Netcompany Ineos rider Egan Bernal as decisive in their dual: "They're both great racers. Thymen [Arensman] has [Egan] Bernal as a really good helper and support on the climb."

He concluded: "I think they're both equally a threat. They are racing for the podium, so they're racing each-other. Of course I'm also racing them, I'm already ahead of them, so I have a little bonus there.